Friends head to Kenya to help out

A group of friends from Stonehaven will travel to Kenya next week to devote their summer to volunteering to help improve the lives of a Kenyan single father and his five children.

Andrew Philp, along with his wife Lucy and their friend Lucy Morrison, will leave for Kenya on Monday (July 3) after deciding that they wanted to do something to help a struggling family.

Andrew explained: “We got in contact with Myles Edwards, and Aberdonian who runs The Gathima Edwards Foundation (http://gathimbaedwardsfoundation.org/). Myles has committed his working life to bettering people’s lives in Kenya. He truly is a remarkable individual.

“We told him that we would be interested in volunteering, and he got the ball rolling for us.”

Andrew arranged with his boss to take a month’s leave, while Lucy Philp, who works as a teacher, was able to travel with him due to the school holidays. Lucy Morrison, a midwife, was able to take a month’s leave from her position. Unfortunately, her husband Kyle, who has been involved in the process through all of the planning and fundraising, due to his work commitments.

Andrew added: “The three of us are heading to Kenya to volunteer to help build/upgrade a house for a single dad named Daniel and his five children. The father was made a widower when his wife tragically died after giving birth to the twin girls.

“This tragedy was compounded further when Daniel broke both his arms when he fell from a tree whilst he was pruning the branches. He could only afford to get one arm fixed, seriously impacting his ability to earn a living and support his children. Hearing this, we donated £400 for Daniel to get his other arm operated on, and Myles organised a further £200.”

While building a home for the family, Lucy Philp will also spend some time in the local school, Lucy Morrison will use her midwifery experience to help in the local hospital, and Andrew will use his business and accounting knowledge to help local charities businesses with basic book keeping. The two couples have been busy fundraising for their trip and have so far raised more than £4,000

Andrew said they were “blown away” by the level of support they have received. He said: “We have been grateful to all the donations we have received (£4,100 in total) and everyone from friends, colleagues, families and complete strangers have been exceptionally generous. “

“Someone we have never met in Aberdeen donated all the money from a jar they had been collecting loose change in for the last couple of years, this amounted to £400.”

To make a contribution or to follow their progress, visit www.totalgiving.co.uk/mypage/kenya2017

Andrew Philp, along with his wife Lucy and their friend Lucy Morrison, will leave for Kenya on Monday (July 3) after deciding that they wanted to do something to help a struggling family.

Father of five Daniel has struggled since his wife died.

Andrew explained: “We got in contact with Myles Edwards, an Aberdonian who runs The Gathima Edwards Foundation. Myles has committed his working life to bettering people’s lives in Kenya.

“We told him that we would be interested in volunteering, and he got the ball rolling for us.”

Andrew arranged with his boss to take a month’s leave, while Lucy, who works as a teacher, was able to travel with him due to the school holidays. Lucy Morrison, a midwife, was able to take a month’s leave from her position. Unfortunately, her husband Kyle, who has been involved in the process through all of the planning and fundraising, was unable to travel due to work commitments.

Andrew added: “The three of us are heading to Kenya to volunteer to help build/upgrade a house for a single dad named Daniel and his five children. The father was made a widower when his wife tragically died after giving birth to twin girls.

“This tragedy was compounded further when Daniel broke both his arms when he fell from a tree. He could only afford to get one arm fixed, seriously impacting his ability to earn a living and support his children.

“Hearing this, we donated £400 for Daniel to get his other arm operated on, and Myles organised a further £200.”

Lucy Philp will also spend some time in the local school, Lucy Morrison will use her midwifery experience to help in the local hospital, and Andrew will help with basic book keeping. The two couples have been busy fundraising for their trip and have so far raised more than £4,000.

Andrew said they were “blown away” by the level of support they have received.

“We have been grateful for all the donations we have received and everyone from friends, colleagues, families and complete strangers have been exceptionally generous.

“Someone we have never met in Aberdeen donated all the money from a jar they had been collecting loose change in for the last couple of years - it came to £400.”

To make a contribution or to follow their progress, visit www.totalgiving.co.uk/mypage/kenya201